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Hi all! Today we have a guest post from Lisa Bugeja of Flour Confectionsabout baking with buttermilk!

For most of my cakes, I prefer baking with buttermilk over milk – I love the texture and taste buttermilk gives to a cake. However, although I love buttermilk, I don’t often love shopping for it.
At most grocery stores, it’s only available in 1L cartons – and sometimes you find it, sometimes you don’t, sometimes it has a long expiration date, sometimes a week or less! It can become quite a nuisance when you bake to order and you suddenly get a last minute request but you are out of buttermilk, or you buy more than you need and end up tossing out half the container because it goes past due. Yes you can freeze buttermilk – best to do it in small amounts which can thaw easily, but again that’s a nuisance.

Recently we brought in dry buttermilk powder – all the essence and qualities of buttermilk but in dry form just waiting to be reconstituted. Now I have buttermilk on hand whenever I need it – I can make a little or a lot depending upon my needs – no waste! And this is true buttermilk like the product from days gone by – it is the residue left over from making sweet cream butter, and then dried into powdered form. Today’s commercial buttermilk is cultured, i.e.: it is milk with an addition to it to create a buttermilk taste & texture. For more info about buttermilk, see this Wikipedia post.

So what can you use buttermilk for? It is excellent in baked goods; from muffins, to quick breads, to cakes – it gives an amazing texture & flavour to your baked items. Here’s a quick non-cake related recipe in which buttermilk is the star – Irish Soda Bread. This bread is VERY easy to make, takes less than 5 minutes to prepare, can be on the table in 45 minutes, tastes amazing and has 4 simple ingredients! It’s homemade and your family will think you hit a home run! Try it!

To make 2 cups of buttermilk:
Mix together 6 1/2 tbsp (62.5g) buttermilk powder with 450mL water

Yields:
One amazingly delicious 6″-7″ round loaf

Serves:
1-8 depending!

Using the centre rack of the oven, pre-heat the oven to 450F and lightly flour a rimmed baking sheet.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together all your dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre of your flour mixture and pour in 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk. Using one hand, stir together, incorporating all the ingredients. If too dry, add additional buttermilk 1 tbsp at a time until the dough just comes together. This dough is soft, do not overwork the dough.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface, gently knead together and shape into a round about 6″-7″ in diameter and 1 1/2″ high at the centre point. Flip the bread round over so that the floured side is face up. With a sharp knife, score a cross in the dough – from one side to the other about 1/4″ deep.

Place dough on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 400F and bake until bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap on the bottom – approximately 20-30 minutes.

Best if allowed to cool for approximately 2 hours prior to slicing and serving …. if you can wait that long!

With a tremendous sweet tooth and an exceptional eye for design, creating edible art is something Lisa knew she enjoyed and was good at for as long as she could remember. With the direction of Flour Confections Inc. turning, it was time to focus back to her beginnings and her passion. Baked & Beloved was born.

Hi All! This week we are here with some great advice from our online school members! One of the amazing things about being apart of our cake community is you have the benefit of learning from experts and novices alike! Here are a few great tips from members of the SugarEd community:

Isomalt also works great as a glue! Throw on your gloves to protect your fingers from the heat and glue your heavy fondant, gumpaste, or isomalt pieces to your fondant cakes with just a dip into liquid isomalt! It’s clear, dries almost instantly, and melts into the surface of your pieces for optimum strength! It also works great for gluing ribbon onto your boards!”

“For fine royal icing piping, without fear of clogs, cut a small square of clean nylon stocking and stretch over the end of a coupler before placing on the tip. Place on tip and tighten coupler ring. Works like a charm and keeps you from having to squeeze a large amount of royal icing through a clean nylon knee-high to strain it before using.”

– Claudia Butler

“I love the look of veined wafer paper petals/leaves. My tip to achieving this is to dip your leaf or petal into vodka and lay on the veiner chosen. Let dry completely before removing and you will have a beautiful veined petal. I prefer to use veg shortening mixed with colour dusts to colour the petals.”

– Nancy Travis

“Crystal Colors has some really good pearl dusts that are FDA approved. For silver paint, you can mix a touch of black gel color in with their Super Pearl & vodka- works super well! Mixtures of yellow and brown/ivory would give a good gold as well.”

“Caulk” the seams between your tiered layers with a bit of buttercream to get a seamless, finished look. Just pipe a small line of buttercream onto the space between tiers and wipe off excess with your finger. It fills the line between tiers and gives you a seamless look! Works best on a chilled cake!

“To prevent luster dust paint from flaking or transferring when touched, mix it with confectioner’s glaze rather than alcohol. The glaze will seal the dust, making the painted item easier to handle with no dust mess.”

“You can put pieces of fondant in the freezer to keep them soft until time to place on cake. I found this hugely helpful when I did my lace covered cake. I was able to make the lace a week in advance (it took a whole week to make over 150 pieces). I stored them in a flat tupperware container with waxed paper between the layers. When it was time to decorate, I took them out a layer at a time. Perfectly soft like I had just made them!”

“Rather than wasting unwanted colored buttercream left over from previous cakes, you can combine them to create chocolate frosting! When you have approximately three cups of an all shortening American type buttercream, simply combine, add ½ cup softened sweet butter, and mix in mixer. Add 9 Tablespoons sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, (or) 3 oz. melted bittersweet chocolate (or more, if a stronger chocolate flavor is wanted) and mix to a smooth consistency. From scraps to chocolate buttercream!”

“My top tip is for placing pearls and dragees on cakes. I used to do it the traditional way of piping a dot or two of icing where I wanted my pearl and then struggling to attach it before the icing dried out. Unfortunately, it was either dried out, or too much so the icing mushed out around the pearl, or it raised it off the cake more in one spot than in another… and I never liked the look of it!

So – I changed how I did it. Now, I take my piping gel container, spread a thin layer of piping gel on the lid and shake out a few dozen pearls or dragees onto the piping gel. Then I use my hooked nose tweezers and place them quickly and easily where I want them. The gel is clear and so you can’t see it; No need to color it, bag it, or pipe it; No more picking up the bag and then swapping out for the tweezers; The pearl/dragee stays sticky and immediately adheres to my surface whether it’s buttercream or fondant; Best of all – it gives a clean, finished look to the cake!”

– Jody Runyan

“You can make batter ahead and freeze it. Thaw it on the counter or in the microwave (at 50% power) when you are ready to bake. Extra tip: cooler batter domes so for cakes thaw completely but for cupcakes thaw it just to the point it stirs smooth.”

– Cristy Russell

“Want full 2-inch high cakes from your 2-inch cake pans? Grease your pan, then line the sides with strips of parchment paper that extend above the top of the cake pan. (The grease acts as glue for the parchment. Do not use pan grease or Baker’s Joy, as the flour prevents the parchment from sticking to the pan.) If your cakes still don’t reach the top, try adding more batter next time.”

“Did you know you can color cake balls AFTER they’re baked? Here’s how: crumble the cake crumbs in the food processor. Add a bit of buttercream and combine. You should have dense crumbs that will stick together, sufficient for making cake pops or cake balls. Using a toothpick, add a bit of gel food color to the crumbs, and pulse in the food processor. Repeat / adjust the color until you’ve achieved the intensity you’re aiming for. Roll into balls and proceed with your project!”

“To make an easy pound cake perfect for carving, combine one box of Betty Crocker pound cake mix and one box of Duncan Hines cake mix in the flavor of your choice. Prepare both per directions on the boxes and combine. To create a chocolate pound cake, use one box of DH dark fudge with one box BC pound cake.”

“When using a paper template as a guide for cutting out fondant or gumpaste, reverse the image and attach the template to the gumpaste with a little shortening. This will prevent the template from shifting while you cut around it. The image is reversed so the shortening is on the back of the cut-out and won’t interfere with the coloring on the front.”

“Plastic molds are perfect for achieving a beautiful shine on your chocolates, but scrubbing them with soap can take away that nice smooth surface! Make sure to only soak your plastic chocolate molds in warm water, only using a damp paper towel to wipe them out if needed.”

“Need extra flower formers? Use your existing flower former as a mold for heavy duty foil. You can make as many extra formers as you need out of foil. If your gumpaste pieces are heavy, just double or triple the foil.”

Today we have a guest post from Michelle Green at The Business of Baking. She’s going to share some important business advice with us, focused on websites:

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YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS A WEBSITE. NO EXCEPTIONS.

If you’re going to be even vaguely legitimate, it’s not negotiable. (If you want to know why I think that, read this short article.)

There are tons of free/cheap platforms you can do it on – Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, WordPress. You don’t need to spend a fortune on it, however there are some things I think are absolutely essential to website content. You will expand on these over time and add more as needed – in the meantime here’s a a guide to website content.

Your first website will likely only be a single, static page:

A page which clearly states: what it is your business offers, where your business is located, if you have opening hours and what they are and how to get in touch with you (email, phone number).

A few (1-4) pictures which show your current work in their best light.

Links to any social media accounts you may have.

Link to sign up to your newsletter (even if you don’t have one yet. Start collecting email addresses from the very first minute your website is online.)

Your next website improvement will have all of the above plus:

An “about me” page – several studies have shown this is the second most read page on a small business website. This is where you can make an emotional connection with the customer. I got a LOT of orders because people liked knowing that by buying from me, they were helping out “the triplet Mom.”

A “contact me” page that has a way for them to submit a form online and also asks them to tell you how/where they heard about you.

Allergen info and disclaimers – this is especially important if you offer gluten free, dairy free (etc).

More photos – but please, don’t just throw every photo you have on there. They must be current and they must be good quality. No pictures of cakes in boxes! It’s far better to have a few beautiful photos then a ton of crappy ones. Also, your cake skills will improve with time,so update those photos to reflect your current skill and style. Here’s some great classes about taking photos: Food Photography Basics, Product Photography at Home, and Photos with Your Smartphone.

Now we’ve got a solid website, let’s start adding in some good stuff to improve the customer experience:

Your terms and conditions IN FULL. This is so you can give people a reference to go read rather than hand them a ten page document when they give you a deposit.

Important info about your product – your flavour range, your price range, how to store the product, where it’s available (if you have outlets).

Important info about working with you – how far in advance do they need to order? Do they need to pay a deposit? Some of this might repeat from your terms and conditions, but it’s the stuff about how they order from you so that’s important to repeat.

A pop up window inviting them to join your newsletter list with a freebie as an incentive (hint: make it a useful freebie not just something random)

FAQ – this is a nicer version of important info on how to work with you. It’s like a Top Ten of the questions people as you the most often and the things they’ll look for first.

Class info if you teach (and a way for them to sign up!)

In this busy digital social media world, we can be deceived into thinking we don’t need a website. Many people started and grew their businesses on Facebook – but in my opinion, that’s not a long term strategy for business success. When you don’t have a storefront, your website IS your storefront, so keep it clean, tidy, and a clear representation of your business. Exactly like a store, make sure you go in and dust things and refresh the look once in a while too! (Get rid of those photos from when your piping was terrible!)

You don’t need to have all the fancy photos which fade in and out, or the music that starts playing when people visit (god no, PLEASE don’t do that!). You need a solid, informative, mobile friendly website that shows the customer what they want and instills in them a feeling of trust that you’ll be able to give them exactly that.

Michelle Green is the sole author of the Business of Baking blog. A qualified pastry chef, Michelle owned a custom cake company for over ten years before deciding to sell it so she could become a full time mentor in the baking industry. She works as a consultant to a number of baking businesses and as a writer for the food/business industry. She has been featured or written for a number of publications and websites including Family Circle, candyaddict.com,cake! magazine, Sweet magazine, allrecipes.com.au, The Baking Sheet, Cookie Connection and Cakes Decore. Additionally, Michelle teaches live baking business courses all over the world and is a Craftsy instructor.

Today let’s talk about the differences between two kitchen staples: baking powder and baking soda. While they have similar names and can be found in the same aisle, they have two totally different purposes.

To begin, let’s look at the definitions for each.

Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent; a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid, and is used for increasing the volume and lightening the texture of baked goods.

Baking soda is also a leavening agent. It reacts with acidic components in batters, releasing carbon dioxide, which causes expansion of the batter and forms the characteristic texture of pancakes, cakes, quick breads, and other baked goodss.

The main difference between the two is the chemical structure of the substances. Baking soda is a base, and when an acid is added to it you will get a reaction (think 7th grade volcano projects). Baking powder is a mixture of both baking soda and a dry acid (think cream of tartar).

If you find yourself in the middle of a recipe and missing ingredients here are some helpful tips:

1. You can substitute baking soda for baking powder by increasing the amount of acidic ingredients in the recipe.

2. You can make baking powder by mixing one part baking soda to two parts of cream of tartar.

A Warning:

While they are both leavening agents, you should always trust your recipe and follow the instructions. While the two are similar, they are not interchangeable. If the recipe calls for baking powder or baking soda, it is best to use what is listed. Remember, baking is chemistry. The recipe requires the ingredients to react in a certain way to produce the final product.

I hope this helps shed some light on these two ingredients. Until next time, happy baking!

Flour is the main ingredient in the majority of baked goods. There are many different types of flours that have different uses and produce very different results. It is generally not advised to substitute one kind of flour for another. Here is a rundown of the most popular flour types:

♦ All-purpose flour is the most common type of flour and may be referred to in recipes simply as “flour”. All-purpose flour does not have a leavening agent. This flour is available in bleached and unbleached. All-purpose flour is ideal for cookies, cakes, biscuits, muffins and other baked goods.

♦ Bleached flour is white flour that has been treated with a bleaching agent. This process gives the flour a whiter appearance and allows the flour to produce more gluten.

♦ Bread flour is made from hard wheat and has more protein than all-purpose flour. Bread flour can be white or whole wheat and works well in making yeast breads. The addition of ascorbic acid allows bread to rise in volume. Bread flour is ideal for a large variety of breads, pizza and other baked goods.

♦ Cake flour is fine textured, soft wheat flour. Cake flour has both a high starch content and low protein content. The bleaching process produces flour that is able to distribute fat more evenly which improves the texture of the baked product. If you cannot find cake flour, you can substitute bleached all-purpose flour, but you will need to remove 2 tablespoons of flour per cup needed (1 cup all-purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons is equal to 1 cup cake flour).

♦ Gluten flour is milled from spring wheat and is higher in protein. Gluten flour is used when baking for diabetics or those needing lower carbohydrate options.

♦ Instant flour is formulated to dissolve quickly and is used mostly in things like sauces and gravies. This flour cannot be substituted for all-purpose flour.

♦ Organic flour can be used interchangeably with all-purpose flour. Organic flour follows USDA regulations in order to be labeled as organic.

♦ Pastry flour has a protein content between cake flour and all-purpose flour. Pastry flour is used in pie crusts, pastries and other quick (non-yeast) breads. This type of flour can be found as white or whole wheat.

♦ Rice flour is flour made from finely milled white or brown rice. Rice flour is a good gluten free alternative.

♦ Semolina flour is primarily used for making homemade pasta. It is milled from durum wheat and is high in gluten.

♦ Self-rising flour has the addition of leavening agents (unlike all-purpose flour). Self-rising flour is made with all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt. The addition of the leavening agents helps produce bread that is both lighter and softer in texture. In addition to self-rising flour, there is also self-rising cake flour. Some of the more common uses of self-rising flour are biscuits, muffins and pastries. If you do not have self-rising flour, you can combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt for each cup of self-rising flour needed.

♦ Whole wheat flour is made from whole kernel wheat. Whole wheat is higher in fiber and contains more nutrients than white flours. But because whole wheat flour does not have a high gluten level, it needs to be mixed with all-purpose or bread flour when making yeast breads.

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Now that we have gone through the different types of flours, there are a few other things you should know about flour:

How do I measure flour?

The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it onto a food scale. If you do not have a food scale, you should use a spoon and dry measuring cup. Flour typically gets compacted during storage. Prior to scooping the flour for measurement, you can use a spoon or other utensil to lightly stir the flour and aerate it a bit. Use a scoop or spoon to place the flour into your dry measuring cup until it is overflowing. Use the back of a knife (or your finger) to quickly level the flour. You want the flour to be light and airy so you never want to pack it in tightly.

Do I need to sift the flour?

As a general rule, you do not need to sift all-purpose flour unless a recipe specifically states that it should be sifted. Cake flour tends to clump in storage so it should be sifted prior to mixing. If you find that your flour is too lumpy for your liking, you can always do a quick sift.

How do I store flour?

As a general rule, flour can be stored for up to 6 months in a cool, dry place (such as a pantry or cabinet). Keeping flour in the refrigerator can extend that shelf life to around 12 months. Whole wheat flour should always be stored in the refrigerator. Flour can also be repackaged in an airtight container and stored in the freezer which will extend the shelf life past 12 months. One exception to this general rule is self-rising flour. The leavening agents is self-rising flour lose their effectiveness after 6 months, regardless of storing it in the refrigerator or freezer.

Happy Mardis Gras! It’s Carnival time down here in my home town of New Orleans. It’s a great opportunity to crate some colorful and fun treats. Here’s a round-up of the some cutest from around the web.